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Johnson County leads cyclosporiasis cases as parasitic illness explodes across Kansas
KCUR | By Frank Morris
Published July 23, 2026 at 4:00 AM CDT
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The one-celled cyclospora parasite invades the intestines and causes diarrhea and other digestive symptoms.
Cases of the intestinal illness, which can cause explosive diarrhea, rose to nearly 300 this week in Kansas, up from 55 last week, according to numbers from the state.
Cyclosporiasis cases in Kansas have jumped more than fivefold in a week. And Johnson County is leading the increase.
Last week the Kansas Department of Health and Environment counted 55 cases of cyclosporiasis, an intestinal illness caused by the cyclospora parasite.
The latest numbers from Wednesday show 289 known cases in Kansas, 95 in Johnson County alone. Wyandotte County recorded 11 cases.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson at the University of Kansas Health System says that’s likely an undercount.
“I think there is that concern that cases are being missed just because sometimes you can be asymptomatic, sometimes you can have an episode or two or maybe one day of feeling bad,” Hawkinson said.
Cyclosporiasis is not a new disease, but typically only about 500 cases a year crop up nationwide. Health officials have documented well over 4,000 cases so far this year. Michigan has been especially hard hit.
The good news is that the cyclospora parasite doesn’t normally transmit directly from person to person.
“Most of the time it is food,” Hawkinson said. “That is why it is so vitally important to understand where is the source of this contamination and how do we stop it.”
Fresh produce can carry the cyclospora parasite. Investigators suspect that iceberg lettuce shipped to Taco Bells from Taylor Farms may be at least part of the problem.
Missouri’s Department of Health and Human Services has logged 216 cyclosporiasis cases in that state through last weekend.
Cyclosporiasis is very treatable, and nothing experimental or particularly expensive is required to knock it out. Bactrim, a common antibiotic, does the job.
“It’s a very common, old drug that's been used a lot and is used for many different things,” Hawkinson said. “It's very safe and proven.”
There is one small catch. To get a conclusive cyclosporiasis diagnosis, doctors need a poop sample.
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Health Kansas News Service KDHE Kansas Department of Health and Environment Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services disease
I’ve been at KCUR almost 30 years, working partly for NPR and splitting my time between local and national reporting. I work to bring extra attention to people in the Midwest, my home state of Kansas and of course Kansas City. What I love about this job is having a license to talk to interesting people and then crafting radio stories around their voices. It’s a big responsibility to uphold the truth of those stories while condensing them for lots of other people listening to the radio, and I take it seriously. Email me at frank@kcur.org.
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